A Look Into 2005
I finally had a little bit of time this afternoon to write down a few of my predictions for the upcoming year with regards to web design and development.
Content Management Systems
As companies move further into the internet realm to expand their marketing opportunities, more and more of them are looking for ways to manage their own websites. With the addition of a CMS to a company website, it allows the site to be managed in house, rather than having an outside company on contract to make updates to the site. This allows for more regular updates, to keep content fresh and keep users returning to the site to see what new offers and products the company is presenting.
XML
The use of XML is steadily on the rise and as 2005 goes on there are going to be more requests for XML integration for the web. It’s definitely the web language of the future and it’s going to be something that all of us in the industry are going to have to adopt and learn. It’s near the top of my list for skills to add to my skillset for the coming year.
Web Standards and Accessibility
2004 showed a huge increase in the number of people that are aware of web standards. 2005 will show a huge demand for designers and developers that focus on standards and accessibility in their designs. Also, with dramatic rise in the number of handheld devices and an increase in the availability of wifi access, accessibility is going to become even more important than it has been before. If you have a presence on the web, you should be accessible no matter what type of device your viewers use to access your site.
Use of Wikis and Blogs For Project Management
This is a point that I’d like to see grow immensely this year. Wikis and blogs are excellent tools for project collaboration and management that should be taken advantage of on a more regular basis.
Summary
I believe that 2005 is going to be a major turn-around year for the web industry and we’re going to see another large boom like we saw in the late 90’s. If this is the case, all of us designers and developers are definitely going to have to sharpen our skills and acquire more skills in order to keep up with the industry.
Comments
There are 4 comments on this post.
- Chris Vincent
- Website
- January 03, 2005 at 02:22 PM
"If this is the case, all of us designers and developers are definitely going to have to sharpen our skills and acquire more skills in order to keep up with the industry." Absolutely. That's what I love about this job: you always have something new to learn. And with the increased number of skills that we must know, the title of "web [whatever]" will gain much more respect, and the position itself will be much more valued.Comment Permalink
- Jeff
- Website
- January 03, 2005 at 02:30 PM
The "web ________" positions are already gaining a lot more notoriety. When I tell people that I'm starting a job as a web designer I get quite a different reaction than I did a year and a half ago when I told people that I was studying web design. It used to be that you'd get kind of a confused look from people when I told them what I did.Comment Permalink
- Steve p Sharpe
- Website
- January 03, 2005 at 04:04 PM
I am a self-taught developer and really focus on web standards, but some companies are only interested in people with certain qualifications (degree's). The funny thing is, is that it could be a degree in walking the dog or something silly like that. It doesn't seem to matter.. I hope that this year, more companies start to recognize some of the fresh talent around. Just because someone has gone to university doesn't mean that they can necessarily design/develop more engaging web sites than those that haven't.Comment Permalink
- Jeff
- Website
- January 03, 2005 at 04:32 PM
That's so true Steve. Another thing that I found in a lot of the job interviews that I went to, is that companies looking to hire don't consider freelance work actual "experience". During one of the first interviews I went to, my interviewer looked at my portfolio that consists entirely of freelance work, and says to me "Is this it? Have you done any work for any actual companies?". I was lucky to finde MarketWeb as they actually looked at my skills irregardless of my work "experience" or educational credentials.Comment Permalink